Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-06-08
sHisGellauepns &eadiug.
THE BOOK Of MORMON.

THE BOOK Of MORMON. .
The recent conference of the Josephites,
or Homogeneous Mormons, at klrtlana,
| Ohio, and the extended reports OF their
proceedings in the Globe. Democrat, says a
correspondent of that journal, has re-
neWed public interest in the peculiar 1altn
to which members OF this churcn SUD
scribe. The origin of the book OF MOT
mon has never been clearly established:
The Latter Day Saints, Of course, accept
the statements of Joe Smith and be-
Iieve it to be an inspired work. The gen
eral public however are hardly as credu-
lous and regard the alleged Bible as a
fraud-the work of some clever rolnanclst
rather thar as the translation OF hero
| plyphics on golden plates by a nineteenth
century prophet. The Spaulding theory,
with which every one at all acquainted
| with the subject is familiar, has the most
advocates. They hold that Standings
manuscript of his romance, 1.-The Mann
script Found" fell into the hands OF Joe
Smith, Sidney Rigdon and others, and
from that ~fanciful work was constructed
the Book of Mormon. If this be true 1t
will astonish orthodox church people to
learn that a Congregational divine, one OF
the foremost of his time in New England,
| is RESPONSIBLE for the introduction of the
"twin relic of barbarism," as the Utah
Church has been called, in this country.
Rev. Ethan Smith who died at an ad-
vanced age early in the 'forties' was one
| of the lights in the Congregational Church
| in New England. A man of deep learn,
ing, he was at once a preacher, author ana
philosopher, holding to many ideas far in
advance of his time. One of his pet hob
bies was the belief that the North Amer
lean Indians were descended from the lost
tribes of Israel, who came over to this
continent several hundred years before
Christ, built great cities and reached a
very high state of civilization.
Rev. DR.. Smith wrote a work on the
subject, which after completion he decided
not to publish, fearing that it might in
lure his reputation as a t%heologica! writer.
This book wa an elaboration of thet heo-
ry DR.. Smith so long maintained. Taxing
as the foundation the migration OF the
best tribes of Israel to the western CONT
nent, it described the 'hegira from Pal
estine, the establishment of the Jews IN
what Is now central America and Mexico,
the founding of q great empire, and its
gradual decline and fall. It told of mag
nifcent cities inhabited by an enlightened
and Christian people. The author claimed
for them a civilization equal to that of
| Egypt or Jerusalem. Hundreds OF years
passed, and the history of the eastern
Jews was repeated on the western CONT
nent. Quarrels between the various tribes
sprang up, bloody wars were waged and
| the process of d~isintegration began.
Gradually the people were scattered,
their cities destroyed and all semblance to
a nation was lost. Thousands persisted by
| pestilence and the sword, and theremnants
of a once mighty nation relapsed INTO a
state of barbarism. From them their de-
scendants, DR.. Smith claimed, were the
| Indians of North America and the Aztecs
of Mexico. This is exactly similar to the
story told in the book of Mormon.
Solomon Spaulding was a warm admir-
er of DR.. Smith, and when a young man
studied under his tuition. He became in
terested in his theories regarding the set
Element of America, and in return Or.
Smith took the young student into his
confidence and granted him a perusal of
his unpublished book. Spaulding was
deeply impressed with the truth OF this
theory and pursued his investigations
even further than DR.. Smith had ventured.
Taking the latter's views as expressed in
his book, Spaulding some years later wrote
his famous manuscript Found" which
afterward fell into the hands Of Joe
Smith and was reconstructed into the
Book of Mormon. Indeed it is not at all
unlikely that DIR. Smiths original manu-
script, which, it is said, Spaulding had IN
his possession, suffered a similar fate. AT
any rate it has never been seen since.
These facts are told your correspondent Dy
a grandson of DR.. Smith, now residing IN
this city. He states that the Book OF Nor
mon differs very slightly, as far as it's gen
eral outline is concerned, from the histor-
ical romance written by his grandfather
sixty or seventy years ago, and he is quite
certain that the Mormon faith is founded
on the production Of that worthy pastors
fertile imagination.